Floreine Margaret Blankenship, 97, died Feb. 8, 2016, at Carriage Square Nursing Home in St. Joseph, Mo. Born Sept. 13, 1918, in Boyd, she was the daughter of Herman Paul and Corda Pearl (Wilmoth) Schwartz. On Jan. 30, 1937, she married Paul Wayne Blankenship in Lyons. He died on Feb. 3, 1977. A lifetime resident of Barton County, she was a homemaker.

Ann Marie Mantz, 79, died Feb. 9, 2016 at Woodhaven Care Center, Ellinwood. She was born Dec. 8, 1936, at Hoisington, the daughter of Bernard and Anna Victoria (Budig) Riedel. She married Carl Mantz Jan. 19, 1954, at Olmitz. He died Feb. 21, 1990. She worked in the laundry at Central Kansas Medical Center and retired from the Dominican Sisters Motherhouse.

PRETTY PRAIRIE - Melvin Lyle Herrell, 82, died Feb. 8, 2016, at Hospice House, Hutchinson. He was born Dec. 19, 1933, in Stafford, to Leo Jesse and Sylvia May (Gahm) Herrell. Melvin was a parish member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church and Teamsters. He retired from Dillon's in February 1996 and was a bus driver for area schools.

According to the Barton County Sheriff's Office. In recent weeks, in an effort to ensure compliance and foster public safety, the Barton County Sheriff's Office has been doing a canvas of all registered sex offenders and violent crime offenders in Barton County.

The Great Bend Recreation Commission will be hosting a free Stop 'N Learn Session titled, "Concealed and Carry Firearm Regulations" on Wednesday, Feb. 10, from 12 – 1 p.m. at the Great Bend Activity Center located at 2715 18th St.

It has been a season of some rough moments for the Barton women's basketball team. A pair of injuries have taken away what most likely would have been the Cougars two leading scorers. One of those was before the season ever started.

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center announces the winners of the 2016 World Wetlands Day Coloring Contest. Nearly 400 second graders completed a coloring sheet featuring a Black Bullhead Catfish, one of several catfish species commonly found in Kansas.

You've read about it ad nauseam in mainstream media outlets like the Washington Post: "What social science tells us about racism in the Republican party," "How racism explains Republicans' rise in the South," "Data suggest Republicans have a race problem," etc.

The great state of Iowa has a history of cultivating its topsoil for a harvest of winners the rest of the country may enjoy. Glenn Miller. Buffalo Bill Cody. George Reeves. Herbert Hoover. James Tiberius Kirk. As a side note, this may be the first time in history the word "enjoy" has been linked to Herbert Hoover.